Optimism abounds for business prospects

Companies
are more optimistic now than they have ever been in the past eight years and
employment prospects are at their highest since 2000, new research has shown.

A
survey of 220 private sector firms found that 51 per cent are more confident
about their prospects than they were six months ago, while only 9 per cent are
less optimistic, according to a report by employers’ body CBI and property
advisers GVA Grimley.

Meanwhile,
a separate survey by insurance giant AXA found that just over half of workers
are optimistic about the future prospects for their industry.

A
poll of 1,500 staff found that those in professional services are more
optimistic than employees in manufacturing, while only 15 per cent are
pessimistic overall.